Where is the best place to sell a website?

"Where is the best place to sell a website" - is probably one of the most regular questions asked at BHW. I have been selling/brokering websites for over 5 years now and my company is well over $20m in sales.

Generally speaking, when selling you have 3 options depending on your net income:

- Sell on a marketplace (<$10k a year)
- Sell with a broker ($10k+ a year)
- Sell privately (all ranges)

Marketplaces

Marketplaces tend to be most suitable if your website makes less than $500/month or is something a broker wouldn't take on.

Best options (costs in brackets):

- Flippa (listing fee + upgrades + success fee)
- BHW marketplace (no success fees so this is a good option for most)

Website Brokers

Brokers are usually the best option if you make more than $10,000 a year. There are lots of "brokers" out there but very few who are reputable. Avoid brokers who work by themselves - they might charge less in commission but don't have the budget to reach as many buyers as the bigger brokers.

Best options based on my experience (costs in brackets). I've only included brokers who complete at least 20 sales per year:

- FE International. Sites $20,000+ in value, specialising under $1m (10-15% commission, no listing fees)
- EmpireFlippers. Most sales are $5k-$100k in value (15% commission, $297 listing fee).
- QuietLightBrokerage. Best for bigger sites, over $1m (10% commission, no listing fee).

Privately

No recommendations here but if you want a strategic buyer and not a deal based on income, try contacting people in your niche privately!

*Note: FE International is my company. I have not direct linked to other companies as not everyone likes "blackhat" links".*

I would imagine with you! What's your take on selling E-commerce website brands that have been built from the ground up that rake in revenues upwards of 50k+ per month? How much would they go for? I'm very interested in building some businesses up, scaling it and then flipping for a nice lump sum. Of course a combo of keeping the assets and flipping is preferred to me.

Cheers

Whats your take on using flippa. Seems pretty straight forward platform with lots of buyers.

hateandbreak said:

I would imagine with you! What's your take on selling E-commerce website brands that have been built from the ground up that rake in revenues upwards of 50k+ per month? How much would they go for? I'm very interested in building some businesses up, scaling it and then flipping for a nice lump sum. Of course a combo of keeping the assets and flipping is preferred to me.

Cheers

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Depends on lots of factors - the revenue is largely irrelevant, depends how much it nets. At that level would need to be at least a year old to be of interest to buyers, too.

Skyebug77 said:

Whats your take on using flip. Seems pretty straight forward platform with lots of buyers.

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Flippa is okay for smaller sites, although you pay a listing fee + upgrades + a success fee - so not much cheaper than a broker and you have to do all the work. A broker will beat Flippa 99% of the time - the good ones will have access to thousands of qualified buyers (not time wasters that you get on Flippa) and will manage the whole process for you through to completion.

Very nice overview Thomas. Didn't really know much about this business so it's good to get an insight. If I had a $20k+ site to flip there is no question what so ever about who I would come to.

I agree with you, Flippa is the best but WeSellYourSite is also an attractive place to sell websites, what do you think?

josegustavo said:

I agree with you, Flippa is the best but WeSellYourSite is also an attractive place to sell websites, what do you think?

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As far as I know, they are not active these days - don't think they are taking on new clients at all.

Flippa works well for selling if you have a legit site with real earnings, but there are many sites being listed so takes a bit of strategy to get noticed.

Your allowed to sell websites and domains on here?

I have used flippa in the past I find it very poor, I have had sites with large revenue streams and others that were just domains and I made very little and a couple did not sell. I would say a broker is the way to go. Flippa has so many websites that have fake information or not truly accurate information it can be cumbersome to find good buys and there fore people to find your site.

Quick question on Empire Flippers. Are sites making $500 monthly and above okay to list there?

Do they have strong buyer/seller fraud screening?

I just chatted with empireflippers- they have a chat line, tonight and the man said that the site has to bring in 1000/month, not 500.

blackbeans said:

Quick question on Empire Flippers. Are sites making $500 monthly and above okay to list there?

Do they have strong buyer/seller fraud screening?

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soctal said:

I just chatted with empireflippers- they have a chat line, tonight and the man said that the site has to bring in 1000/month, not 500.

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Same criteria as us (FE International) size wise, then. They must have changed that policy very recently.

that i would like to also know about as i am new

Do brokers require the listing to be exclusive or can people list their site with several brokers?
Also what would be the average timescales for finding buyer, from the moment a seller approaches you to sale completion?
I realise that several factors come into play and it would vary site to site but just a rough idea would be good.

W130SN said:

Do brokers require the listing to be exclusive or can people list their site with several brokers?
Also what would be the average timescales for finding buyer, from the moment a seller approaches you to sale completion?
I realise that several factors come into play and it would vary site to site but just a rough idea would be good.

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We require exclusivity and I don't know of many who wouldn't. There's too much time/cost/resource that goes into preparing/marketing a sale to do it without.

Time wise, varies depending on size. Sites under $100k in value are usually completed within a month (from start through to transfer). Above that level, usually a little slower. We have completed a number of 6 figure deals in a under a month, though, so it can happen.

Nice overview mate, was really helpful as a newbie seller!

Very informative for those who aspire to do it fully. This has always been my passion, i there is much room of business in this niche. Thanks for the advice....

What about adult sites? where is the best market to sell them

ok, so I have a question...(I thought this would be a piece of cake but clearly it's just proof of my lack of experience with thise "side" of things)

I think it's pretty obvious to everybody that I have coded sites and I'm looking for people who have models,etc and are looking to take that first step and get a site.

so my question is where is the best place for me to go? (even if it's somewhere on this site). include link if possible, thanks.

I tried a bunch of different google searches that seemed obvious and straight-forward but the results were horrible...so yeah...